Stereotype-plate and base



No Model.)

F. D. THOMASON.

STBREOTYPE PLATE AND BASE.

No. 406.862. Patented July 9, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK D, TIIOMASON, OF ENGLENVOOD, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STEREOTYPE-PLATE AND BASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 406,862, dated July 9, 1889.

Application filed November 13, 1888. Serial No. 290,730. (No model.)

To (oZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK D. THOMASON, of Englewood, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stereotype-Plates and Bases, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to that class of stereotype-plates and bases used by printers, and in which the plates are temporarily locked to the bases for use in printing by the act of locking up the form.

The object of my invention is to produce a base which is simple in construction, and

which without the aid of independent devices automatically locks the plate in position when the form is locked, substantially as hereinafter fully described, and as illustrated in the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved plate and base. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same; and Figs. 3, l, and 5 show crosssections of modifications thereof.

In the drawings, A represents a plate having the usual type formations 011 the upper surface and having rabbets a a made in their under surfaces next to and parallel with their side edges, the inner walls or shoulders I) of which are inversely beveled.

l3 I represent the legs of the base. These legs are connected at corresponding points, preferably at their centers of height, by a web 0, of suitable elastic sheet metal, which is slightly bowed upward or downward so as to permit the legs to move toward each other when sufficient lateral pressure is brought to bear against their outer sidesas, for instance, when locked in a form. In the inner surface of legs l3 l3, immediately next and parallel with the upper inner edges thereof, are shoulders c c, the vertical walls of which are inversely beveled at an angle corresponding to that of the inversely-beveled wall Z) of the rabbets a. The outer surfaces of the said legs are perfectly plane, and when looking the plate, as will hereinafter be more fully explained, are perpendicular to the side edges of the plate. \Vhen the base is not holding the plate, the action of the elastic Web causes the upper ends of the legs to tilt outward just sut'ficient for the inverse beveled shoulders I) of the rabbcts a a to drop between the upper ends of the legs, so that the under horizontal surfaces of said rabbets rest upon the tops of the legs.

In operation the plate A is placed longitudinally upon the base, so that the shoulders of the upper edges of the legs support the under surfaces of the plate next the rabbets, and so that the shoulders I) of said rabbets oppose the inversely-beveled shoulders c c of the legs. The plate and base are then looked in the form, the pressure of its furniture on the legs of the base causing the upper ends to move in toward each other, so that shoulders c 0 thereof bear against and interlock with shoulders Z) Z) of the plate.

If desired, the plate A might have longitudinal central legs d projecting down from it, as shown in Fig, 4, which would extend down to a plane just above that of the springweb, and which, when the form was looked very tight, would prevent the bowing upward of the web C above a certain safe limit, and would materially aid it in preventing the possibility of its collapsing.

In Fig. 5 legs at correspondingpoints nearer their heels, and show said web to be perfectly plane, neither bowed upward nor downward. The upper ends are tilted outward the same as shown in Fig. 3. This form is useful When the base is to be subjected to great lateral pressure, as when made up in a large form.

In Fig. 2 I show how the base, instead of being made of a length corresponding to that of the plate, may be made in sections, with a heavy load I), of a height not greater than the plane of the under surface of the plate, inserted between them. The aggregate length of the section and thickness of the leads in this event ought to correspond to the entire length of the plate.

I do not desire to be limited to the exact construction and dimensions of the several parts of my invention as hereinbefore explained and as shown in the drawings, as it is obvious they can be changed.

I show the Web C connecting the p IOK WVhat I claim as new is 1. The combination,with astereotype-plate A, having its under surface rabbeted parallel and next to its side edges, of the base consisting of the legs B, connected by a transverse elastic Web, and having shoulders'in their upper inner edges Which oppose and lock said plate thereto and bear against the vertical walls of the rabbeted edges of the plate, as set forth. 1

2. A stereotype-plate having its under su rface next to and parallel with its side edges rabbeted so that the vertical shoulders of said rabbets are inversely beveled, and having a central longitudinal leg depending downward a suitable distance from its under surface, in combination with the legs B B, having longitudinal inversely-beveled shoulders in their upper inner edges which oppose the inversely-beveled walls of the rabbets of said plate, and a flexible transverse sheet-metal web connecting said legs. Y

3. A stereotype-plate having its under surface next to and parallel with its side edges rabbeted so that the vertical shoulders of said rabbets are inversely beveled, in combination with the legs B B, having longitudinal inversely-beveled shoulders in their upperinner edges which oppose the inversely-beveled plate, a flexible transverse sheet-metal web connecting said legs, and a transverse lead D, of a length equal to the width of said plate and of a height rising to the plane of the under surface thereof, as set forth.

FRANK D. TI-IOMASON.

WVitnesses:

J. WARREN HANNA, PORTER B. COOLIDGE. 

